Socialist Buzzkill Bernie Sanders Is Already Plotting His Revenge on the Rich

On Monday, Donald Trump received some news that was almost as thrilling as the time he got to pretend to ride a big-rig: Senator Susan Collins will support the G.O.P. tax bill, making it almost certain that the legislation will pass in the Senate. House Republicans are expected to vote on their tax bill on Tuesday, with the Senate following suit later this week. In short, if all goes according to plan, Trump will get to sign a brand new bill before Christmas. This is obviously a very exciting time not only for the president, who will benefit from the bill beyond his wildest, most self-serving dreams, but for Republican lawmakers and corporate America, the latter of which will (theoretically) enjoy a 21-percent rate in perpetuity.

Unfortunately, a select few haters and losers did not get the memo that now is a time for toasting increased dividends and Paul Ryan’s prospect of making millions from the donors he is about to reward. During an interview with Face the Nation on Sunday, Senator Bernie Sanderstold host John Dickerson that if Democrats take control in 2018, they’re going to “take a very hard look at this entire tax bill and make it a tax bill that works for the middle class and working families—not for the top 1 percent and large multi-national corporations.” When Dickerson noted that, in order to achieve Sanders’ goals, the corporate tax rate will have to go up, Sanders responded, “Absolutely. Yes. In my view, absolutely.” And sadly for Republicans, his statements seem to be less the ravings of a cranky old man complaining about deli portion sizes and more portents of midterms to come.

At a time when the Grand Old Party’s popularity seems to be plummeting daily, the bill formerly known as “The Cut Cut Cut Act” is not helping their case. According to the results of a recent survey by Priorities U.S.A., a Democratic advocacy group, Republican approval ratings fall off a cliff when voters hear the details of the tax plan. In a poll of more than 12,000 voters in 20 House districts, as well as Senate battleground Nevada, approval ratings fell an average of three points after they were “exposed to a $2 million digital-advertising campaign against the tax bill.” According to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll that was conducted before a last-minute tweak provided an additional windfall for Donald Trump and Senator Bob Corker, if the bill goes through it will be the most unpopular piece of major legislation passed in 30 years. Amazingly, the same party that is set to pass a historically reviled bill is already talking about the grave need to slash things like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security in order to pay for it, which is sort of like running over someone’s foot with your car and then throwing it in reverse to inject them with tuberculosis.

All of which puts Democrats in a prime position to campaign in 2018 as the party that didn’t pass a near-universally hated tax giveaway to corporations and the lazy rich, only to turn around and hold the social safety net hostage. Though he doesn’t see them repealing the legislation as a whole, former Representative Steve Israel told me that if “Democrats win the majority,” as he expects they will, “[the] first order of business will be reprioritizing tax cuts from the wealthiest to the working-class families”—in other words, Republicans and their corporate sugar daddies can kiss their 21-percent rate goodbye.

If you would like to receive the Levin Report in your inbox daily, click here to subscribe.

Steve Mnuchin reverts to all-out fibs

Last November, then Treasury secretary nominee Steve Mnuchintold CNBC that under Donald Trump’s tax plan, “there will be no absolute tax cut for the upper class.” Then in May, he said that while the president’s objective was to “make a middle-income tax cut,” he couldn’t actually guarantee that that would occur “since the results will be a combined effort of the administration and the House and Senate.” Several months later, on CNN, he performed a little bit of revisionist history, maintaining that anything he said in the heady days of the transition “was never a promise . . . never a pledge.” Finally, in October, he came full circle, telling Politico that it’s basically impossible not to cut taxes on the rich, likely knowing full well that that’s exactly what the Republican plans intended to do.

But on Sunday, perhaps high on the sort of audacity it takes to put out a one-page report claiming the tax plan will pay for itself, the former Goldman Sachs partner was back to his favorite alternative fact. During an appearance on State of the Union, Mnuchin toldJake Tapper that “the president [is] right” when he says “the rich will not be gaining at all with this plan.” Later in the interview, he defended the Treasury department’s 400-something word analysis of the tax plan by hilariously claiming that it was based on a “detailed model” that was “important to publish.”

Ivanka Trump: Democrats secretly want to pass a tax bill that does almost nothing for the middle class

Incidentally, there’s little reason to believe that Trump’s infrastructure plan—the details of which are still murky—would have prevented today’s tragedy at all. The rail link was hardly a rickety affair in desperate need of a cash injection; in fact, it had opened that day. (10 minutes after his first tweet, one of the staffers at the “adult day-care center” seemingly realized that a tweet involving thoughts and prayers was more appropriate.)

Washington lawyer Jeffrey Lovitky contends [in a lawsuit] that Trump and Kushner failed to identify the assets owned by 30 investment funds the couple had stakes in. The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Washington also claims the couple should have declared the value of and income they derived from two investment vehicles, but did not.

The suit notes that in a half dozen instances Kushner’s report indicates that more detailed information is not being provided because a “pre-existing confidentiality agreement” precludes disclosure.

A spokesperson for the White House called the suit “frivolous,” adding that “Mr. Kushner’s 278e was closely reviewed by the nonpartisan Office of Government Ethics, which certified his compliance with federal law. Mr. Kushner and his representatives also maintain ongoing communications with the Office of Government Ethics to ensure his disclosures remain in compliance. Ms. Trump’s 278e parallels Mr. Kushner’s in all relevant respects.”

Elsewhere!

Chasing the Next Bitcoin, Investors Shell Out $700 Million for Coins With “No Purpose” (W.S.J.)

He Stole $100 Million from His Clients. Now He’s Living in Luxury on the Côte d’Azur (Bloomberg)

These Are the Tricks States May Use to Get Around the SALT Deduction (Bloomberg)